Preseason Camp: Bulldogs Throw Pity Party

Dan Mullen was not at all pleased with this morning’s practice and let it be known at the top of his meeting with reporters.

“Disappointed today. Just a lot of guys feeling sorry for themselves out there on the field,” Mullen said. “It’s hot, they’re tired, but this is the SEC West, and you’ve got five of the six teams in the SEC West are ranked in the top 25 in the country. You can’t be feeling sorry for yourself. You have to improve every single day if you want to win in this league.”

The heat has been surprisingly absent during several of MSU’s 12 practices thus far, and perhaps that had something to do with it. That, of course, is no excuse for Mullen.

“Our expectations of effort and what expect out of our guys is much more than what I saw today. We expect to win the West. What we gave today is not going to get it done.”

This morning’s work focused on situational drills, such as third downs, back-to-the-wall, and two-point conversions. This afternoon, Mullen plans on driving the self-pity out of the Bulldogs.

“Hopefully the weather holds off so we can stay outside. I want it to be nice and hot, and I want us to fight through, be a little bit mentally tougher than we were.”

• A day after mentioning the possibility of using cornerback Johnthan Banks on offense, Mullen said this morning that he could see defensive tackle Fletcher Cox lining up on offense in goal line situations, and offensive tackle James Carmon perhaps playing a little defense (he’s a converted defensive tackle).

“You have that depth, you start to see less of that. The guy who switches has got to make you better on that side of the ball,” Mullen said.

• MSU will check out of its hotel Sunday, which will be the team’s first day off after 10 consecutive days of work. Mullen said so far there have been no major injuries in camp, which has been closed to the public and the media the last five days and will remain so.